Sunday, November 1, 2009

Mumbai: From the crime to the court

The attacks began on November 26, 2008, when 10 terrorists, members of a militant Islamic group called Lashkar-e-Taiba, arrived in Mumbai by boat.

Their targets included a train station, Nariman House, Leopold Café and two hotels — the Oberoi-Trident and Taj Mahal (above).

For nearly three days, they exchanged fire with Indian forces; 166 people were killed.

The authorities shot nine of the gunmen, and one survivor, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, 21, was captured.

The attacks heightened Indo-Pakistani tensions; Pakistan only accepted that Kasab was a Pakistani national in January this year.

The trial began in April in Mumbai. Kasab pleaded not guilty to 86 charges including murder and waging war against India, and was said to smirk throughout.

In July he shocked the court by pleading guilty to some charges. “Very shrewdly, very cleverly, Kasab has tried to save his own skin by showing he was acting as a subordinate,” said the state prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.

Last month, Kasab claimed he had no faith in the Indian courts and applied for trial in the International Court of Justice. The request was dismissed and the trial continues.

Dozens of Brits were injured in the attacks — seven seriously — and one man, 73-year-old Andreas Liveras, was killed.